Most Sparkle?

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During these trying times, many of us are looking for a twinkle of hope. After oggling Princess Margaret’s blingy turban yesterday,this week’s discussion just had to be, dearest readers – which royal hat has the most sparkle? 

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Hat From the Past

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Royal Hats On November 22, 1976, a lavish gold-and-white themed party was held for Colin Tennant (the future Lord Glenconnor) on the Caribbean island of Mustique. Princess Margaret’s embroidered caftan and dramatically embellished silk turban made a statement memorable enough to be included in a Kensington Palace fashion exhibit several years ago.

 

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Monday Multiples: Queen Elizabeth

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Thanks to longtime reader Jimbo for providing the introduction and background research for Queen Elizabeth’s hats featured in this “Monday Multiples” series.

Jimbo’s Introduction: Queen Elizabeth visited Canada in 1983 and again in 1984.  For both trips she wore a very nice pale yellow dress with matching coat featuring a faint yellow and white plaid pattern. For her 1983 trip to Vancouver, Her Majesty selected a unique, coarsely woven tan straw hat which reminds me of a picnic basket.  Current records do not indicate a second outing of this unusual hat.  Perhaps it was either uncomfortable to wear, or it was met with comments other than highly flattering, or both!

For her 1984 trip to Winnipeg, she wore what was possibly this hat’s debut – much lighter in weight and design.  Apparently, the Queen liked this hat so much that she kept it in her closet until at least 1990, when she paired it with another ensemble.

Look #1:  The textured woven straw boater hat with black velvet hatband tied in a front bow worn March 9,1983

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Look #2: The white stitched satin voluminous tam ‘o shanter with bow worn October 6, 1984

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Thanks, Jimbo! Now dear readers- which hat do you prefer with this pale yellow plaid coat?

Photos from Getty as indicated 

This Week’s Extras

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Top hats for King Harald and Crown Prince Haakon last Sunday for Norway’s national holiday
A LOT of millinery designs caught my eye this week:
Waved screen print fabric covered hat with flexible, changeable brim by Italian milliner Sabrina Baldacchini
Show-stopping red layered crin pyramid shaped hat by Australian milliner Lauren J Ritchie
Fuchsia straw button percher with lush vine of silk morning glories by Brtish milliner William Chambers
Navy felt trilby with blue-hued feather covered brim by Dutch milliner Berry Rutjes
Dusky pink leather button percher with beautiful layered lace trim by Australian milliner Kylie Heagney
Ecru straw wide brimmed slice hat with black embroidery by London-based milliner Filipa Cardoso
Pink, yellow and blue handpainted percher hat with straw twists and feathers by US brand Lifted Millinery

For our dear gents, this beautifully textured Panama hat with crisp and classic navy and cream
double hatband by British brand John Boyd Millinery
Cream straw picture hat with green statement bow and fantastic hand pieced straw brim, inspired
by jockey silks, by American brand Amy Jo Original Hats
The most charming pink and green sinamay handmade tulip bandeau headpiece from UK milliner Bridget Bailey
Grey felt fedora with ribbon work lily-of-the valley trim and beaded hatband by British milliner Jane Corbett
Padded oversize pillbox covered in a fantastically bold, retro floral print by Australian milliner Chris Mullane
Warm gold angular straw short-brimmed hat with neon pink silk organza rose by Czech milliner Jolana Kotabova
Large waved percher covered entirely in magenta feathers by Irish milliner Aoife Harrison

And from Scottish milliner Stephanie, this elegantly restrained grey wide brimmed boater with guipure lace hatband

For World Bee Day on Wednesday, Crown Princess Victoria, Princess Estelle and Prince Oscar visited the beehives gifted to Victoria and Daniel for their wedding
Princess Alexandra shared a heartfelt message with Alzheimer Society, as did the Earl and Countess of Wessex for Local Resilience Forums in Wessex


We end this week with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge trying out new roles.

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Hat From the Past

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Royal Hatsto May 21, 1991 and proof that the Dutch and Belgian queens are not the first monarch to experiment with open-crowned hats.

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